Creative recruiter pledges not to ask your rate

A salary survey by a creative recruiter of freelancers has been posted – albeit with one big difference.

As well as the usual questions enquiring about whether your rate has gone up or down, it says candidates should never have to disclose their rates when looking for work.

The thinking is that by handing over their pay particulars at interview or pitch stage, candidates ‘pigeon-hole’ themselves by letting the decision-maker place them based on their rate to date.

Major Players, which has posted the survey for freelancers in 20 creative sectors to answer, also said: “To help close the gender pay gap, we are now no longer asking any of our candidates for current or previous salary information.”

The agency said its policy would be to refuse to divulge any of its candidates’ pay levels when putting them forward for opportunities because, “it is totally unnecessary to judge someone’s ability or worth based on their last salary or rate.”

A campaign outlining this stance, Earn your Worth, has been launched, with potential supporters -- freelancers’ clients for example, invited to pledge their support by getting in touch.

Some of the questions in the agency’s (confidential) survey touch on the issue – ‘Have you ever felt as though you haven’t been paid your worth?’ for example, and ‘Should hiring managers refrain from asking about your existing pay?.’

The remaining 27 questions touch on topics including working from home, top ‘pull’ factors of a contract, discrimination, changing jobs, methods of finding work and ‘push’ factors to leaving a freelance role.